Officials: Dollar Tree opening a sign of things to come at Commons

Saturday

Jan 19, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 19, 2013 at 7:23 PM

City leaders on Saturday turned out to mark the first grand opening at Norwichtown Commons since renovations began at the site, pointing to the refashioned Dollar Tree as another step in the shopping plaza’s return to prominence.

Adam Benson

City leaders on Saturday turned out to mark the first grand opening at Norwichtown Commons since renovations began at the site, pointing to the refashioned Dollar Tree as another step in the shopping plaza’s return to prominence.

“This is an important thing for the city, and in fact, the region,” said Alderman Tucker Braddock Jr. “It’s a real change of attitude.”

Dollar Tree joins existing big-name tenants including Dress Barn and Stop & Shop, which signed a 10-year extension of its lease to anchor the $7.5 million upgrade of the 42 Town St. site.

Last April, Dress Barn used its Norwich location to roll out a redesign that is taking hold company-wide. But that took place before construction started at the 160,000-square-foot complex.

In July 2011, Concord, Mass.-based Winstanley Associates bought the Norwichtown Mall for $15.75 million and won approval by city officials a month later to launch a multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the property under the new Norwichtown Commons name.

Project planners are nearly halving the property’s overall footprint from 300,000 square feet to better position it for success in a competitive retail market.

The 9,000-square-foot Dollar Tree store, which held a soft opening last week, will employ 15 people and has a projected annual sales volume of $1.2 million, said Mike DiColella, the chain’s district manager.

Dollar Tree was a mainstay at the old Norwichtown Mall, and DiColella said the company was happy to come back within the 160,000-square-foot property’s new image.

DiColella oversees Dollar Tree stores from Middletown, R.I., to Windsor. The second Norwich location, which opened Saturday, becomes DiColella’s 20th, and he said the 624 W. Main St. site is going to remain open as well.

“We have a good, firm base of customers who love this location, so it only makes sense to come back,” DiColella said. “It was probably one of the best-performing stores in my whole district.”

Within minutes of Saturday’s ribbon cutting, several customers were already shopping there. Patricia Reynolds, of Sprague, and her daughter, Hope, 9, were pulled into the ceremony as they waited to enter the store.

Winstanley has already named several other tenants scheduled to move in, including Fancy Nails, Hair Cuttery and Pet Sense.

And Eagle Rock Retail, a Newton, Mass.-based property marketing firm working with Winstanley Associates, says on its website Big Lots is a confirmed tenant as well.

“You have a whole new Norwichtown Commons. People are going to come just out of curiosity to see what stores are here and what they have to offer,” Mayor Peter Nystrom said. “It’s all bright and very refreshing.”

Each store will have a separate entrance fronting the 840-space parking lot, providing them with visibility that should help boost sales, officials said.

“The access is enhanced for every single of them,” Nystrom said. “For the longest time, this site was viewed as basically empty.

Braddock echoed that.

“There are going to be 15 different opportunities here to help bring people in,” Braddock said. “It’s one of many drivers that have to happen in Norwich.”

Joan Tomes, of Norwich, called the Norwichtown Commons project “exciting.”

“It will add a few jobs to our neighborhood,” she said. “And it’s terrific, because there’s not that much on this side of town.”